December 2011

Two former New Rochelle High School students have agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from their arrest last February in an attempted armed robbery at the school.

Jermaine McCleod, 19, and Rashad Simpson,17, were arrested on February 10, 2011 by New Rochelle police at the New Rochelle High School on charges of Attempted Armed Robbery in the 2nd Degree and Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree.

The incident occurred on February 9th, just a day after McCleod had been caught stealing money from a cash register at the school cafeteria. McCleod and Simpson are well-known to police and prosecutors.

According to Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, Simpson will be sentenced on January 10, 2012 for a guilty plea of Attempted Grand Larceny in the 4th degree. McCleod will be sentenced on February 9, 2012 for his plea to Attempted Robbery in the 3rd degree.

At the City of New Rochelle's 48th annual Thanksgiving Parade there was something for everyone. It proceeded down North Avenue from near Eastchester Road, turned left on Main Street. and ended at the Maple Avenue parking lot. There were bands, floats, military, school groups and a wide range of participants representing many different organizations and merchants. The Chamber of Commerce and the City of New Rochelle sponsored the event amid speculation that there would be no financing of parades next year by the City. State Senator Jeff Klein was also in the parade as a sponsor. The police officers on duty, including Fudge, stood patiently waiting for it to begin.

The School Board continues to grope and fumble around some fundamental questions on Employment criteria, union & management relations, and community transparency. However they do seem to be actively engaged and, hopefully, that will lead to growing insight, skill, and application that will benefit the citizen in the not too far distant future.

They might start affirmatively with dismissing the Superntendent. This is long overdue and surely there must be some sense of the need for this on the part of some school board members who are most likely those elected most recently. Were this done, a dark cloud would begin heading southeast and arrive somewhere in Suffolk County; a more amenable location for this controlling, unaware and stultifying force who has damaged our district and actually our non-eductional growth and development prospects and possibly done so mortally.

State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck) today applauded Governor Cuomo’s comprehensive Job Creation package, which includes significant reductions in the MTA Payroll Tax and state flood relief assistance for individuals, small businesses, and local governments hard hit by recent flood disasters.

Senator Oppenheimer stated, “The MTA Payroll Tax needs to be eliminated for suburban counties. The $250 million cut in the payroll tax, which is targeted to small businesses, self-employed individuals and private and parochial schools, will be of special benefit to Westchester.”

This New Rochelle Board of Education is really something special. Unless you're purposefully avoiding confronting reality (as the BOE seems to be actively doing), you'll have noticed the absolute insanity going on with our local school system. Lies are being told, laws are being broken, and money is being moved around!

Nothing says depressing circus quite like this band of miscreants hemorrhaging city bucks and operating outside of both the law and reality.

With the framework of New York State and Federal Law, the City School District of New Rochelle is governed, on a day to day basis, by Superintendent's Regulations. To understand what has gone on with Jose Martinez, the hiring of 9 people in the last 6 weeks without the required background checks and, in particular, the hiring of Nadine Pacheco as administrator at Trinity Elementary School, one needs to understand the district's own rules and the ways in which they were not followed.

In particular, it is important to be familiar with Superintendent's Regulations 4110, 4120 and 412, as well as, Section 2573 of the New York Code Rules & Regulations.

4120 explains the need to consider only qualified candidates:

"All persons nominated for employment shall meet all qualifications established by the State Education Department and the Board of Education for the type of positions for which the nomination is made." Also, "Recruitment activity shall insure that an adequate number of properly certified and qualified candidates are recruited." (emphasis added).

County Executive Robert P. Astorino is reminding Westchester residents and business owners affected by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee that they have until Dec. 15 to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for possible disaster assistance.

Registering with FEMA is necessary for homeowners and business owners who may be seeking FEMA grants or low-interest loans in connection with physical damages caused by the August hurricane and the tropical storm that arrived several weeks later in September.

“The deadline to apply for help is fast approaching. Registering by Dec. 15 is a necessary step to remain eligible for a variety of government assistance,” Astorino said.

FEMA officials noted that residents and business owners who have filed insurance claims should still register in case their private insurance does not cover all damages resulting from the storms.

“If your insurance coverage comes up short, or other damage appears later, you need to be registered for us to help,” FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Philip E. Parr said.

Three notable entrepreneurs from the world of sports and entertainment will be the featured speakers at a special Careers in Sports and Entertainment Series program to be hosted by Iona College’s Hagan School of Business at 5 PM, Thursday, December 8. It will be held in the Hegarty Room at the Hynes Athletic Center on the Iona campus, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle.

The speakers are all founders of their companies as well as award-winners in their respective fields: